Three Oilers Pacific Division rivals listed among most improved teams this off-season

A couple of the Edmonton Oilers’ familiar foes are among the teams that have vastly improved over the past few months.

On Tuesday, Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff listed the top five NHL teams that have improved during the offseason. Among the teams he listed are Pacific Division rivals — the Anaheim Ducks and Vegas Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights were already one of the best teams in the division, especially since they literally just won the Pacific last year. However, after getting bounced by the Oilers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in five games, general manager Kelly McCrimmon recognized that he had to improve his roster if they wanted to be considered championship contenders once again.

Vegas’ most significant move was acquiring Mitch Marner from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a sign-and-trade deal. Marner heads to Sin City on an eight-year contract, with an AAV of $12 million. On top of that, the team brought in depth down the middle in centre Colton Sissons, and defenceman Jeremy Lauzon to bring some size on the blue line.

Larkin says, despite losing key players like Nicolas Roy and Alex Pietrangelo, that the Golden Knights are going to be a force.

“Shouldn’t the prognosis be rather grim for Vegas, then? No. Not when you’ve added Marner, who is coming off a 102-point season. He’s one of the best playmakers in the NHL, he’s a two-time first-team all-star, and in the past five seasons, he’s seventh in league-wide scoring and first in takeaways. He also lands in an environment perfectly suited to remedy his problems performing under pressure in the playoffs: a Sun Belt team full of players who won a Stanley Cup in 2022-23. The Golden Knights were already a division champion last season, and now they add a Hall-of-Fame-grade forward to the mix. The entire Western Conference should be afraid.”

The Ducks have been a team that has looked like it’s on the edge of jumping up the standings, but needed another piece or true talent to get out of the cellar. Along with the hiring of three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Joel Quenneville, the Ducks brought in experienced talent in Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund. On top of that, general manager Pat Verbeek managed to offload the contracts of goaltender John Gibson and Trevor Zegras.

“It feels like they’re ready to push for their first playoff berth since 2017-18,” Larkin wrote “The Zegras era has mercifully ended. … Free-agent signing Granlund brings all-situations versatility and the ability to play any forward position. Kreider is just a season removed from scoring 39 goals…he’s a decent bet to bounce back even at 34. …  (Quenneville’s) one of the best ever when he’s behind the bench. His presence should help the Ducks achieve some semblance of the defensive discipline they need to become a Wild Card team.”

Larkin also stated the Sharks made some improvements next season. The team that finished at the bottom of the division, once again, brought in former Oilers Jeff Skinner and John Klingberg to bring some experience to join a young core alongside Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, and Yaroslav Askarov. However, Larkin believes the older additions ” were of the short-term variety,” and could be trade bait next season.